diff --git a/src/config/Config.zig b/src/config/Config.zig
index 85d140492..809eb427d 100644
--- a/src/config/Config.zig
+++ b/src/config/Config.zig
@@ -387,10 +387,14 @@ palette: Palette = .{},
 /// flag. For example: `ghostty -e fish --with --custom --args`.
 command: ?[]const u8 = null,
 
-/// The number of milliseconds below which we consider a process
-/// exit to be abnormal. This is used to show an error message
-/// when the process exits too quickly.
-@"abnormal-runtime-threshold-ms": u64 = 250,
+/// The number of milliseconds of runtime below which we consider a process
+/// exit to be abnormal. This is used to show an error message when the
+/// process exits too quickly.
+///
+/// On Linux, this must be paired with a non-zero exit code. On macOS,
+/// we allow any exit code because of the way shell processes are launched
+/// via the login command.
+@"abnormal-command-exit-runtime": u32 = 250,
 
 /// Match a regular expression against the terminal text and associate
 /// clicking it with an action. This can be used to match URLs, file paths,
diff --git a/src/termio/Exec.zig b/src/termio/Exec.zig
index 0db1c1e95..15ed97b3f 100644
--- a/src/termio/Exec.zig
+++ b/src/termio/Exec.zig
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ const disable_kitty_keyboard_protocol = apprt.runtime == apprt.glfw;
 /// The number of milliseconds below which we consider a process
 /// exit to be abnormal. This is used to show an error message
 /// when the process exits too quickly.
-abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms: u64,
+abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms: u32,
 
 /// Allocator
 alloc: Allocator,
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ pub const DerivedConfig = struct {
     osc_color_report_format: configpkg.Config.OSCColorReportFormat,
     term: []const u8,
     grapheme_width_method: configpkg.Config.GraphemeWidthMethod,
-    abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms: u64,
+    abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms: u32,
 
     pub fn init(
         alloc_gpa: Allocator,
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ pub const DerivedConfig = struct {
             .osc_color_report_format = config.@"osc-color-report-format",
             .term = config.term,
             .grapheme_width_method = config.@"grapheme-width-method",
-            .abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms = config.@"abnormal-runtime-threshold-ms",
+            .abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms = config.@"abnormal-command-exit-runtime",
         };
     }
 
@@ -551,18 +551,13 @@ pub fn jumpToPrompt(self: *Exec, delta: isize) !void {
 /// Called when the child process exited abnormally but before
 /// the surface is notified.
 pub fn childExitedAbnormally(self: *Exec, exit_code: u32, runtime_ms: u64) !void {
-    // Build up our command for the error message
-    const command = try std.mem.join(
-        self.alloc,
-        " ",
-        self.subprocess.args,
-    );
-    defer self.alloc.free(command);
+    var arena = ArenaAllocator.init(self.alloc);
+    defer arena.deinit();
+    const alloc = arena.allocator();
 
-    const runtime_str = try std.fmt.allocPrint(self.alloc, "{d} ms", .{runtime_ms});
-    defer self.alloc.free(runtime_str);
-    const exit_code_str = try std.fmt.allocPrint(self.alloc, "{d}", .{exit_code});
-    defer self.alloc.free(exit_code_str);
+    // Build up our command for the error message
+    const command = try std.mem.join(alloc, " ", self.subprocess.args);
+    const runtime_str = try std.fmt.allocPrint(alloc, "{d} ms", .{runtime_ms});
 
     // Modify the terminal to show our error message. This
     // requires grabbing the renderer state lock.
@@ -580,8 +575,7 @@ pub fn childExitedAbnormally(self: *Exec, exit_code: u32, runtime_ms: u64) !void
     // a little bit and write a horizontal rule before writing
     // our message. This lets the use see the error message the
     // command may have output.
-    const viewport_str = try t.plainString(self.alloc);
-    defer self.alloc.free(viewport_str);
+    const viewport_str = try t.plainString(alloc);
     if (viewport_str.len > 0) {
         try t.linefeed();
         for (0..t.cols) |_| try t.print(0x2501);
@@ -593,27 +587,36 @@ pub fn childExitedAbnormally(self: *Exec, exit_code: u32, runtime_ms: u64) !void
     // Output our error message
     try t.setAttribute(.{ .@"8_fg" = .bright_red });
     try t.setAttribute(.{ .bold = {} });
-    try t.printString("Ghostty failed to launch the requested command:");
+    try t.printString("Ghostty failed to launch the requested command.");
     try t.setAttribute(.{ .unset = {} });
+
     t.carriageReturn();
     try t.linefeed();
     try t.linefeed();
-    try t.setAttribute(.{ .bold = {} });
+    try t.printString("Command: ");
     try t.printString(command);
     try t.setAttribute(.{ .unset = {} });
+
     t.carriageReturn();
     try t.linefeed();
     try t.linefeed();
-    try t.printString("Runtime:   ");
+    try t.printString("Runtime: ");
     try t.setAttribute(.{ .@"8_fg" = .bright_red });
     try t.printString(runtime_str);
     try t.setAttribute(.{ .unset = {} });
-    t.carriageReturn();
-    try t.linefeed();
-    try t.printString("Exit code: ");
-    try t.setAttribute(.{ .@"8_fg" = .bright_red });
-    try t.printString(exit_code_str);
-    try t.setAttribute(.{ .unset = {} });
+
+    // We don't print this on macOS because the exit code is always 0
+    // due to the way we launch the process.
+    if (comptime !builtin.target.isDarwin()) {
+        const exit_code_str = try std.fmt.allocPrint(alloc, "{d}", .{exit_code});
+        t.carriageReturn();
+        try t.linefeed();
+        try t.printString("Exit Code: ");
+        try t.setAttribute(.{ .@"8_fg" = .bright_red });
+        try t.printString(exit_code_str);
+        try t.setAttribute(.{ .unset = {} });
+    }
+
     t.carriageReturn();
     try t.linefeed();
     try t.linefeed();
@@ -771,7 +774,7 @@ const EventData = struct {
     /// The number of milliseconds below which we consider a process
     /// exit to be abnormal. This is used to show an error message
     /// when the process exits too quickly.
-    abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms: u64,
+    abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms: u32,
 
     pub fn deinit(self: *EventData, alloc: Allocator) void {
         // Clear our write pools. We know we aren't ever going to do